Outside by Foo Fighters Lyrics Meaning – Unraveling Cosmic Reflections in Song
Lyrics
Beautiful earthling, dressed in cashmere
All your sound echoes through the canyons
Down below they’re dreamin’
Hear the sirens screamin’
Another time, another world
Girls were boys and boys were girls
Find the glitter, in the litter
Like a haunt, it’s got to move
Everybody needs some room
There’s somethin’ out there
There’s a long straight road, out of the cold
And we can leave it all behind
I wanna get outside, baby, let’s get outside
I wanna get outside, outside, of me
All I found the space between the spaces
Standin’ in the nothin’, and time reclaims you
Now as the wind will beat you down
And the wind the only sound
There’s somethin’ out there
There’s a long straight road, out of the cold
And we can leave it all behind
I wanna get outside, baby, let’s get outside
I wanna get outside, outside, of me
There’s a long straight road, out of the cold
And we can leave it all behind
I wanna get outside, baby, let’s get outside
I wanna get outside, outside, of me
At the intersection of rock and introspection, Foo Fighters’ ‘Outside’ from their 2014 album Sonic Highways takes the listener on a journey of ethereal proportions. The song rides on a current of electrifying guitar riffs, with lyrics that evoke a deep sense of existential wanderlust.
Frontman Dave Grohl and his band have mastered the art of weaving complex themes into seemingly straightforward rock anthems. ‘Outside’ is no exception, with its otherworldly imagery and a thirst for liberation from the confines of one’s own being—and perhaps, from the boundaries of convention itself.
The Call of the Wild: Earthly Desires and Celestial Quests
‘There you are dancin’ at your altar, Beautiful earthling, dressed in cashmere’—from the very onset, ‘Outside’ presents a vivid picture of a subject trapped between the primal and the divine. The ‘altar’ suggests a place of worship, indicative of the reverence we, as humans, may hold for the earthly delights represented by ‘cashmere’.
Yet, these material trappings are intermingled with the call of the wild, the ‘echoes through the canyons’ a reminder of the greater, untamed world beyond our constructed sanctuaries. This sets the scene for a song that is as much about the physical landscape as it is about the landscapes within us.
Transcending Gender Norms: ‘Girls were boys and boys were girls’
In the line ‘Another time, another world, Girls were boys and boys were girls,’ Foo Fighters touch on the fluidity of identity—an echo of the glam rock era where androgyny shattered social expectations. It hints at a hidden utopia, where notions of self are unfettered by societal norms.
At the same time, the transience of this line points towards a world that oscillates between binaries, finding ‘the glitter in the litter,’ as though suggesting that within the chaos and disregard of the normative lies true brilliance.
Craving Escape: The Physical and the Metaphysical
‘I wanna get outside, baby, let’s get outside’—the chorus is a plea for escape, perhaps from the mundane, from internal struggles, or from the constraints of identity. It is a desire to break free, to explore what lies ‘outside’ of the self.
‘Outside, of me’—the phrase resonates on two levels, implying both a physical departure and an introspective journey. It suggests a dissociation from the ego, inviting the listener to question who they are when they step outside of their own mind.
The Timeless Quest for Something More
‘All I found the space between the spaces, Standing in the nothing, and time reclaims you’—Grohl conjures a sense of liminality, being in a place that exists between all known places, a vacuum where time itself can envelop you.
These lines speak to the human condition—a constant search for meaning in the void, an acknowledgement of our transient existence. The song taps into a universal longing to find that ‘somethin’ out there,’ an elusive truth beyond our grasp.
Echoes of the Sirens: The Allure of the Unknown
‘Hear the sirens screaming’ is a memorable line that alludes to the mythical sirens’ call, drawing sailors towards the unknown. Similarly, ‘Outside’ seems to beckon towards the mysteries that lie beyond our current understanding.
It’s a reminder that despite the risks, there remains a seductive pull to discover the undiscovered, to hear what the ‘sirens’ of our own lives are tempting us with, and to bravely venture towards those distant echoes.
